Workers: Sack manager

 By JUNIOR UKAHA

LAE City Council workers have called on the Morobe provincial government to sack its city management.

More than 100 disgruntled workers staged a protest inside the city council premises in Top Town yesterday and demanded that city manager Roy Kamen and his bunch of senior officers be removed and replaced with more competent people.

They have been up in arms since not being paid or well-delayed payments.

Staff member from the office of the city manager who tried to explain the situation to the frustrated workers were shouted down by the workers. 

Two police units were called in to monitor the situation and control the protesters. 

Philip Mero, an employee of the council who works at the public cemetery at Second Seven, said they wanted the management removed because of allegation of mismanagement of funds and the poor working conditions employees had to endure.

“For five fortnights we were like this,” he said.

“We received our pays a week late and not on our normal pay days,” he said.

Philip Andama, another worker who cleans the city, said there were no proper safety gear such as gloves and masks for workers to protect them from injuries and bacteria.

Both men accused the management of failing to look after the needs and welfare of the workers.

Mero said the previous management had never run into problems like the current management.

He said the workers would not return to their jobs until they received their pay and their petition was addressed. 

The protest followed on from a similar protest held between November and December.

That petition resulted in the removal of Kamen, who successfully took out a court order and stayed his suspension.

Meanwhile, acting provincial administrator Geoving Bilong said a meeting was held by the provincial government and representatives of the striking workers around midday yesterday,

Bilong said the delegation was told to go back to work while the provincial government tried to sort out their issue.

“They are following up on their previous petition and we advised them that we will look into the matter,” Bilong said.

He said the position of the city manager was in court.

Bilong said he had no comment to make whether  the council was bankrupt.

Morobe Governor Kelly Naru, who is in Port Moresby and Lae MP Loujaya Kouza, could not be reached for comment yesterday.